Warriors, Warlocks, Widows: Women and Weapons in the Viking World
The associations between women and weapons in the Viking Age are far more intricate than some people would have expected.
Women and public space: Social codes and female presence in the Byzantine urban society of the 6th to the 8th centuries
The aim of the study is to sketch a picture of female presence in public space in the urban milieu of the Byzantine Empire in the 6th to the 8th centuries.
Grave Bj 581: the Viking Warrior that was a woman
Is the standing interpretation of the grave as that of a high-status warrior still valid?
The Werewolf’s Wife: The She-Wolves in Medieval Literature
Whereas the werewolves grieve over their fate, the she-wolves use the power of metamorphosis to deal with those who get in their way, turning this whole wolf thing to their advantage.
Finding their Voices: Women in Byzantine and Latin Christian Philosophy
But the two voices of humility and transcendence, respectively lower and higher than the discourse routinely employed by male authors, were characteristic of female medieval authors.
The Lost Women of Prémontré: Finding and Following the Footsteps of Medieval Women
In the mid-12th century, the chronicler Herman of Tournai wrote that there were more than 10,000 Premonstratensian sisters spread across northern France.
Gender equality and the Vikings
Modern-day Scandinavia is regarded as a model of equality between the sexes. A new study indicates that this may go back to the early Middle Ages.
More than Mothers: Juries of Matrons and Pleas of the Belly in Medieval England
Common law was an all-male system, with one glaring exception: juries of matrons.
‘More of a Burden Rather Than a Benefit’: Perceptions of Crusading Women and How They Developed From the Eleventh to Fourteenth Centuries
Were women only a ‘burden’ to the crusades or did they challenge this perspective and benefit the movement?
Warriors and women: The Sex Ratio of Norse Migrants to Eastern England Up To 900 AD
It suggests that female migration may have been as significant as male, and that Norse women were in England from the earliest stages of the migration, including during the campaigning period from 865.
The Holy Spirit in Female Form: Medieval Tales of Faith and Heresy
The stories of Guglielma of Milan and Na Prous Boneta of Montpelier – how they became associated with the Holy Spirit – and how the Catholic Church responded to them.
In search of Lagertha, the Warrior Queen
As one of the most aspiring female characters on the show, Lagertha in the TV series Vikings is introduced as the wife of Ragnarr Loðbrók and a renowned shieldmaiden – women who fight fearlessly in the battlefront. But where does Lagertha’s story originate?
Gendered viewing, childbirth and female authority in the residence of Alice Chaucer, duchess of Suffolk, at Ewelme, Oxfordshire
This article examines the visual culture of the late medieval great residence from the perspective of the female gaze.
Mothers Who Weren’t: Wet Nurses in the Medieval Mediterranean
By Cait Stevenson The mother’s traditional role as first teacher of virtue and religion began with suckling. It’s no wonder, then, that later…
Laundry Ladies in Medieval Poland
Usually considered to be “women’s work”, this paper takes a close look at how laundry was done in medieval Poland, calling into question common historical stereotypes.
I Love You, Please Put Away the Bear: Valkyrjur-turned-Wife
Though they may marry and even support their husbands in the short term, they generally bring ruin upon their partners.
Lucrezia Borgia and her marriage to Alfonso d’Este
After two failed marriages, one of which had ended in the murder of Alfonso Duke of Bisceglie, Lucrezia Borgia was once more on the marriage market in the year 1500. She was a pawn, a chess piece for her father and brother’s political plans. This time, the Borgia family were looking to tie their family to the Estes of Ferrara – a proud and ancient House.
She-Wolves: Medieval Queens with Helen Castor
From the submissive to the scandalous, medieval queens held a huge amount of influence over the politics of the day. In this episode, Danièle speaks with Dr. Helen Castor about queenship, the challenges of studying even the most prominent medieval women, and how their stories still resonate today.
Liturgy Matters: Benedictine Women’s Communities in Medieval England
Katie Bugyis is pursuing her current book project, “Liturgy Matters: Benedictine Women’s Communities in Medieval England,” which reclaims the materiality of Benedictine nuns’ liturgical practices by viewing these women as “technologists” who transformed—and were transformed by—their sensual engagement with the objects they created, acquired, handled, and treasured.
Slave, Queen, and Mother of Caliphs: The Story of Khayzuran
During her life and career Khayzuran rose from the status of slave to becoming the caliph, al-Mahdi’s (r. 775-785), favorite concubine, and then his legal wife and a queen in her own right who wielded an immense amount of political power and whose wealth was second only to that of her husband’s in the entire caliphate.
Melusine, Mary, and Making it as a Historian with Christine Morgan
These days, there are many different ways to be a historian outside of academia. In this episode, Danièle speaks with Christine Morgan, creator of Untitled History Project, about her latest work on the famous fairy Mélusine, Mary Boleyn, and making it as a historian off the tenure track.
Viking warrior women with Leszek Gardeła
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle interviews archaeologist Leszek Gardeła to learn more about women, warriors, and when a weapon is more than just a weapon.
Intercession and Motherhood: The Queenships of Philippa of Hainault and Anne of Bohemia
How successful were the queenships of the fourteenth-century consorts Philippa of Hainault and Anne of Bohemia?
‘I wanted to make them a little book’: The knight and the book for his daughters
I wanted to make them a little book to read so they might learn and study and understand the good and evil that has already happened, in order to keep them from that which is yet to come.